August 16, 2007

The Bean’s Room

What better way to officially kick off my Kids design blog than to feature my daughter's bedroom. Bean's room was a blank canvas when I started. I mulled over several ideas for months and months, yet as she got older, I realized she had already outgrown many of those ideas. I didn't realize how quickly babies grow out of the baby stage and right into toddler stage and then onto little girl stage! I highly recommend thinking of a scaleable design -- something that will grow with the child and can be flexible enough for change.

Art is one of my biggest weaknesses. My dad was a painter, so I got a taste of art as a child -- our walls were filled with original paintings which I was aware of as a child but learned to appreciate as an adult. I want my children to appreciate the beauty of art and, who knows, they may even choose it as a career. So, I like to put whimsical pieces of original art in their room to inspire. I keep one wall open for their own pieces of original work that we rotate; although i need to do a better job at displaying it -- using frames or art rails or...something other than what I'm currently doing (scotch tape).

I knew I wanted a wall that popped so i chose pink! Not too bubble gum, not too pastel...it's salmony pink. It's actually pretty comforting. who knew!? The framed pieces are original silk screened posters that I couldn't resist. I never get tired of looking at them. We've also got the token fish...Sammy Rainbow.

These little clay figurines are about 2.5" tall. They're made by a local Seattle artist, Sean Beasley. Our dear friend, Rich, gave them to our girls as a Christmas gift. They're so adorable, aren't they? Bean loves her yellow guy. She occasionally asks me to take him down from his perch so she can play with him.

This is my girls' art gallery wall. I painted the cherry blossom branch on a whim one afternoon while my husband was watching football. I never got around to embellishing with more blossoms which i illustrated in Adobe Illustrator and printed on sticky-back cloth paper. I simply printed, cut and stuck them to the wall. I need more flowers but haven't found the spare time. Instead, I decorate the wall with my daughter's art (cat mask shown). To the right of the picture is local Seattle artist, Amy Hevron's, paintings. We've got several of her little works of art scattered about the house.

This is a mini art wall above my daughter's bed. The piece to the left is an etching my husband drew as a child. His mom miraculously kept it and I framed it because it's so adorable! Next to that are 2 pieces by the talented Portland artist, Trish Grantham. The two teeny pieces (panda and bee) are hers as well. The framed piece above them is by an unknown artist that I received as a gift.

This is the window bench that I hired a crafty carpenter to build. The drawers are filled with toys that I can quickly stash when it's time to clean up. The cushion is a simple slab of foam from a local source and I went to Seattle's fabulous Great Jones Home store and purchased the striped fabric and stapled it over the foam. It was a mini DIY project that didn't take long at all.

You'll notice two black rectangles on my drawers. Those are pieces of fiber board that i had my dad cut to size because while drilling holes for the drawer handles, I completely mis-drilled and had to cover my mistake. I painted the fiber board pieces in chalkboard paint; however, my daughter never uses them to draw on. Someday I'll get those drawers fixed! (at least I keep telling myself).